The Pagemeister Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 R.E.M. Prepares To 'Accelerate' Jonathan Cohen, N.Y. Nobody would ever confuse R.E.M. for Metallica, but the guitars have definitely been turned up for the Georgia group's 14th studio album, "Accelerate," due April 1 via Warner Bros. Nearly all the material was tested out during a summer run in Dublin, although manager Bertis Downs tells Billboard a few of those songs didn't make the cut, and that a couple of album tunes were held back from live airings. Mostly gone is the drowsy vibe of 2004's "Around the Sun," with "Living Well Is the Best Revenge," "Horse to Water," "Aftermath" and "Until the Day Is Done" recapturing the old R.E.M. energy. "It's not like we're going to pretend these are ballads. These are rockers," Downs says. "I feel like there's a confidence in the material, and a communication between the three of us that hasn't been there for some time," frontman Michael Stipe told Uncut. "We didn't talk to each other for a couple of records -- as friends or as bandmates. And we reached a point before this LP where we just sat down at a table and hashed it out." R.E.M. will tour this spring; for now, the lone confirmed date is an appearance at the Langerado Festival, which runs March 6-9 in Big Cypress, Fla. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jahfin Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 This site is also tied in with the release of the new record: http://ninetynights.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidmoon Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 This would be fantastic news if it were 1988. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jahfin Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 This would be fantastic news if it were 1988. Have you heard any of the new material they debuted in Dublin over the summer? I wouldn't count them out just yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidmoon Posted January 4, 2008 Share Posted January 4, 2008 What REM album would you recommend? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jahfin Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 What REM album would you recommend? My favorites are anything from the I.R.S. Records era but I love all of their albums to different degrees. Are you totally unfamilar with them? From your previous post you seem to indicate you're at least familar with their 80s output. My favorite is Fables of the Reconstruction. Of their Warner Brothers output I favor New Adventures in Hi-Fi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jahfin Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 According to this Danish website the tracklisting is listed below, the first single is Supernatural Superserious and the entire running time of the record is 35 minutes: http://gaffa.dk/nyheder/view.php/news_id=20752 Living Well Is The Best Revenge Mansized Wreath Supernatural Superserious Hollow Man Houston Accelerate Until The Day Is Done Mr Richards Sing For The Submarine Horse To Water I’m Gonna DJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jahfin Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 The official tracklist and back cover art according to remhq.com: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jahfin Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 Hear 30 seconds from Supernatural Superserious, the first single from Accelerate: http://www.murmurs.com/node/2063 It's also already available as a ringtone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jahfin Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/articl...t_id=1003700584 R.E.M. Shoots Video At NYC Sex Shop, Restaurant R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe Jessica Letkemann, N.Y. New Yorkers who happened to be on Rivington Street on Monday (Jan. 21) caught R.E.M. performing in both a local sex toy shop and the restaurant next door. The band convened on Manhattan's Lower East Side to film the video for "Supernatural Serious," the first single from its forthcoming album, "Accelerate," due April 1 via Warner Bros. R.E.M.'s first stop was Italian restaurant Inoteca, where they filmed in a corner while business bustled around them. The band, whose members are friends with the proprietors, called ahead to set up the mini-shoot, general manager David Massoni tells Billboard.com. Diners, many of whom recognized the group, looked on with interest. The trio then moved next door to sex toy emporium Babeland around 8 p.m. A pair of cameras captured them playing near the window display at the front of the store to an audience of surprised employees. Babeland co-owner Claire Cavanah says a band representative had called just that afternoon proposing the store as a location for part of the video. "Of course, we were thrilled," she says. By the end of the band's 30-minute performance, a crowd of onlookers had gathered outside the store, according to manager Ana Moran. Leading up to the release of "Accelerate," R.E.M. will be performing in March at Stubb's Bar-B-Q in Austin, Texas as part of the South by Southwest festival, as well as near Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., at the Langerado Music Festival. Meanwhile, the band has set up an album countdown site, ninetynights.com, which features a new video snippet each day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jahfin Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/articl...t_id=1003702021 R.E.M. Rocks Hard On New 'Accelerate' R.E.M. Jonathan Cohen, N.Y. After two consecutive albums dominated by mid-tempo fare, R.E.M. gets back to its stripped-down, fast-paced rock roots on "Accelerate," due April 1 via Warner Bros. The 11-track set, which gets in and out in a lightning-quick 34 minutes and change, is led by the single "Supernatural Superserious." Opener "Living Well's the Best Revenge" sets the tone, with a prominent lead guitar figure from Peter Buck, thumping, melodic bass lines and backing vocals from Mike Mills and a rapid stream of lyrics from frontman Michael Stipe. The track almost seems like a musical cousin to "Just a Touch" from 1986's "Life's Rich Pageant." The up-tempo approach extends to "Supernatural Superserious," a video for which was shot earlier this week on Manhattan's Lower East Side. "You realize your fantasies are dressed up in travesties / enjoy yourself with no regrets," Stipe instructs on the track, which should hit radio sometime next month. Elsewhere, "Hollow Man" begins as a piano ballad but quickly morphs into a revved-up chorus, while "Horse To Water" is a noisy, angular rocker with the unmistakable stamp of R.E.M.'s pre-major label days. Among the slower departures are "Houston," which is vaguely reminiscent of the vintage "Swan Swan H," and the politically charged "Until the Day Is Done" ("The verdict is dire / the country's in ruins," Stipe sings). A number of the "Accelerate" tracks were premiered last summer during "working rehearsal" shows in Dublin. The album was produced by Jacknife Lee, best known for his work with Snow Patrol and U2. Here is the track list for "Accelerate": "Living Well's the Best Revenge" "Mansized Wreath" "Supernatural Superserious" "Hollow Man" "Houston" "Accelerate" "Until the Day Is Done" "Mr. Richards" "Sing for the Submarine" "Horse To Water" "I'm Gonna DJ" --------------------------------------- Supernatural Superserious single artwork --------------------------------------- Making of the video for the Supernatural Superserious single: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jahfin Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 From Billboard: Modest Mouse, The National Opening R.E.M. Tour Jonathan Cohen, N.Y. R.E.M. has drafted Modest Mouse and the National as support acts for its upcoming tour of North American theaters and arenas, which begins May 23 in Vancouver. The outing comes on the heels of the April 1 release of R.E.M.'s new Warner Bros. album, "Accelerate." Although an official announcement was made today (Jan. 28), the National frontman Matt Berninger spilled the beans during an interview last week with Australia's Triple J radio. R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe has been a vocal admirer of the New York-by-way-of-Cincinnati band in recent months, and attended one of its shows in London last year. Modest Mouse has been off the road since mid-December; the group's 2007 Epic album, "We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sunk," was its first to feature former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr. Here are R.E.M.'s tour dates: May 23: Vancouver (Deer Lake Park) May 29: Los Angeles (Hollywood Bowl) May 31: Berkeley, Calif. (Greek Theatre) June 3: Morrison, Colo. (Red Rocks) June 6: Chicago (United Center) June 8: Toronto (Molson Amphitheatre) June 10: Raleigh, N.C. (Walnut Creek) June 11: Columbia, Md. (Merriweather Post Pavilion) June 13: Mansfield, Mass. (Tweeter Center) June 14: Wantagh, N.Y. (Jones Beach) June 18: Philadelphia (Mann Center June 19: New York (TBA) June 21: Atlanta (Lakewood Amphitheatre) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alinds Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 I'll see y'all at the molson ampitheatre. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jahfin Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 It'll be Raleigh for me (sucks that it's a Tuesday night though) and possibily Atlanta. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muse Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Depending on the quality of the album and the ticket prices, I could be up for a drive to Colorado. School's out for summer, then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jahfin Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Depending on the quality of the album and the ticket prices, I could be up for a drive to Colorado. School's out for summer, then. For the last few tours the fanclub has offered exclusive seating but according to a message on their fanclub page at remhq, unless you're already a member you may be SOL for this tour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ally Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 From Billboard: Modest Mouse, The National Opening R.E.M. Tour Jonathan Cohen, N.Y. R.E.M. has drafted Modest Mouse and the National as support acts for its upcoming tour of North American theaters and arenas, which begins May 23 in Vancouver. The outing comes on the heels of the April 1 release of R.E.M.'s new Warner Bros. album, "Accelerate." Although an official announcement was made today (Jan. 28), the National frontman Matt Berninger spilled the beans during an interview last week with Australia's Triple J radio. R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe has been a vocal admirer of the New York-by-way-of-Cincinnati band in recent months, and attended one of its shows in London last year. Modest Mouse has been off the road since mid-December; the group's 2007 Epic album, "We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sunk," was its first to feature former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr. Here are R.E.M.'s tour dates: May 23: Vancouver (Deer Lake Park) May 29: Los Angeles (Hollywood Bowl) May 31: Berkeley, Calif. (Greek Theatre) June 3: Morrison, Colo. (Red Rocks) June 6: Chicago (United Center) June 8: Toronto (Molson Amphitheatre) June 10: Raleigh, N.C. (Walnut Creek) June 11: Columbia, Md. (Merriweather Post Pavilion) June 13: Mansfield, Mass. (Tweeter Center) June 14: Wantagh, N.Y. (Jones Beach) June 18: Philadelphia (Mann Center June 19: New York (TBA) June 21: Atlanta (Lakewood Amphitheatre) I'll try to take in May 23.... great concert setting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jahfin Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 From Uncut's blog: R.E.M. Accelerate OK, then, I must admit I’ve been sceptical about this one, so disillusioned by “Around The Sun” (three good, if woefully overproduced, songs notwithstanding) that I didn’t even bother to check out any bootlegs of those “live rehearsal” gigs from Dublin last year. . . More fool me, it transpires. If “Around The Sun” was a glossy attempt to update the moods of “Automatic For The People”, “Accelerate” looks further back into REM’s terrific back catalogue for inspiration. The mixture of crunch and jangle from Peter Buck, the generally speedier pace, Michael Stipe stuffing far too many words into each line while Mike Mills gamely tries to keep up with his harmonies, the attractive gothic woodiness of the folk ballads – all this reminds me a lot of how the band sounded circa “Lifes Rich Pageant” and “Document”. It’d be mighty rash to suggest “Accelerate” was the equal of those albums, but it certainly draws on their energies. This is not a perfect record, by any stretch, but it is one that improves with every listen, and which this morning sounds pretty much like the best REM effort since “New Adventures In Hi-Fi” (and I like “Up” and “Reveal” more than most critics, I suspect). The opener, “Living Well’s The Best Revenge” is, I think, the most straightforwardly exciting song they’ve recorded since “So Fast, So Numb”, a breathless hurtle which seems designed to prove they’re still capable of this dynamic, heady, heavily-textured kind of rock. It’s a point which’ll be made ad nauseam in reviews of “Accelerate”, but Buck’s return to electric prominence is both striking and massively welcome. I remember interviews with Stipe and Mills circa “Around The Sun” talked of how Buck busied himself in the studio stocking up their iPods. This time, mercifully, he seems to have contributed a lot more – or contributed a lot more of the sound which REM’s fans generally want from him – to the record. “Accelerate”, in fact, sounds like the record REM’s fans wanted them to make, not necessarily the record REM may have wanted to make. It’s a small complaint, I guess, when professional pragmatism sounds as good as this. I don’t want to write too much on the specific tracks, not least because I’ve got a very long review to file for the mag in the next few days. But it’s just under 35 minutes long, and only one of the 11 tracks (“Sing For The Submarine”) outlasts its welcome. “I’m Gonna DJ” you’ll probably know from recent tours and last year’s live album; it’s the worst song here, I think. Besides “Living Well’s The Best Revenge”, I’m currently taken with “Mansized Wreath” (improbably funky work from Mills), the fuzzed-out raga of “Mr Richards” (shades of “Time After Time” maybe) and another breakneck thriller called “Horse To Water”. If anyone saw the Dublin shows or has listened to the bootlegs, let me know what you think. Judging by "Accelerate", I really should have believed the hype. John Mulvey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jahfin Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 The trailer for Accelerate is now up on REMhq.com: http://remhq.com/index.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jahfin Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 The first single for Accelerate, Supernatural Superserious is now streaming at Pitchfork: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/page/forkcas...rserious-stream Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jahfin Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 See the video for Supernatural Superserious here: http://www.warnerknask.no/rem Accelerate CD/DVD Special Edition http://www.amazon.com/Accelerate-CD-DVD-R-...174&s=music Disc: 1 1. Living Well Is The Best Revenge 2. Man-Sized Wreath 3. Supernatural Superserious 4. Hollow Man 5. Houston 6. Accelerate 7. Until The Day Is Done 8. Mr. Richards 9. Sing For The Submarine 10. Horse To Water 11. I'm Gonna DJ Disc: 2 1. 6 Days (48-minute film) - DVD 2. Red Head Walking - DVD 3. Airliner - DVD Product Description Accelerate, the first studio album in four years from R.E.M., finds modern rock's most acclaimed band returning to the stripped-down, guitar-driven power that first enraptured fans. Helmed by the band and, for the first time, Jacknife Lee (co-producer of U2's '05 Grammy® Album Of The Year How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, The Hives and Snow Patrol), Accelerate puts the 2007 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame group once again firmly behind the wheel of alternative rock, a genre R.E.M. helped invent. Accelerate is available as a CD-only in a Softpak; a CD+DVD that features a 64-page book and the Vincent Moon film 6 Days (which includes behind-the-scenes footage and performance pieces of various songs on the album) plus two bonus tracks (audio only) Red Head Walking and Airliner in a board package. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jahfin Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 http://www.supernaturalsuperserious.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jahfin Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 From remhq.com: http://remhq.com/news_story.php?id=675 R.E.M. TO APPEAR ON AUSTIN CITY LIMITS R.E.M. will appear on the acclaimed PBS live music television series Austin City Limits next month. The concert, which takes place on March 13 during this year’s annual SxSW Music Conference, also marks the first taping of the 34th season of the show. The televised broadcast will air on PBS stations nationwide later this year. Austin City Limits producer Terry Lickona sees the upcoming R.E.M. concert event as a natural fit for the show. “It feels like this show has been a long time in the making,” he said. “We’ve been talking with R.E.M. for quite awhile about this, and we’re thrilled to see it coming together for our first taping of the new season. That they’ve picked our stage to showcase their first new CD in four years means a lot to everyone at Austin City Limits. Having this great American rock band as our guest is, in many ways, the embodiment of our show. We can hardly wait!” For more information about Austin City Limits please visit austincitylimits.org. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mightyzep247 Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 REM is amazing. I know a guy named Peter Holsapple who played on the original recording of Losing My Religon(and many others) and toured with REM for a while. He was considered the fifth member and now hes playing on my band, A Fragile Tomorrow's, new CD. Thats pretty awesome. Anyway, I can't wait for the new REM record, its gonna be awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jahfin Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 Peter was also in a little band known as the db's that I'm guessing only you and I and a handful of people here have ever heard of even though they're considered just as seminal as R.E.M. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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